A Sun News poll: What should be done with the Oakwood Country Club in Cleveland Heights?

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS Almost 100 concerned residents gathered at the community center earlier this month to discuss the possibility of purchasing the Oakwood Club to preserve it as some kind of green space.

Those in attendance discussed what should happen to the property, how to raise money to possibly purchase it and what would happen after that.

Although nothing concrete was decided, the meeting ended with the creation of a 13-person steering committee, which will look into and discuss those matters.

Last month, Oakwood announced it would combine memberships with The Mayfield Sand Ridge Club and operate out of Mayfield’s two facilities in Lyndhurst and Chardon.

The Oakwood property was put up for sale shortly after, with an initial asking price of $5.9 million.

Resident Fran Mentch, who organized and moderated the community meeting Feb. 3, said raising the funds to buy the property would not be a problem since grants and other sources of funding are available for preservation projects.

“This is our generation’s chance to leave something to future generations,” she said.

Oakwood sits on 144 acres here and in South Euclid along Warrensville Center Road between Mayfield and East Antisdale roads.

‘Green spacewould be best’

Those who live in one of the 13 homes on the private Oakwood Drive next to the golf course and tennis courts are particularly concerned about what will happen to the property.

One of them, Ted Johnson, said he definitely does not want to see the land redeveloped for commercial use.

“Green space would definitely be best,” he said.

Oakwood Drive is made out of brick and is paid for and maintained by the residents of the street, not the city, Johnson said.

“Our street is very delicate, so to have people drive on it increases the wear and tear on the street,” he said. “The fewer people who drive there regularly, the better.”

Johnson said he would not be opposed to housing on the Oakwood property, but would prefer a park or other green space.

Others at the meeting discussed the possibility of turning Oakwood into a public Metroparks golf course, something the steering committee will look into.

Former director of The George Gund Foundation, David Bergholz, was at the meeting.

He said the issue of money is not only just the purchase price, but also the cost of maintaining the land once it is acquired.

He said the land is perfectly suited to become part of the Metroparks, and said if a well-organized and focused campaign is implemented, the project could be eligible for initial planning grants.

“A 140-acre park in the middle of a relatively urban area, my guess is, will gain national attention, not just local attention,” Bergholz said.

“I think this is really remarkable.”

Park would be greatmarketing tool

Longtime resident Lisa Rainsong spoke to the group about the benefits of preserving land like this as green space.

“I worry that if we lose this green space we won’t have other green space left to us,” she said. “This is our chance.”

Rainsong has a naturalist certificate from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and said the Oakwood land likely supports a wide variety of plant and animal life, including owls, foxes and songbirds.

Preserving the land is not only the environmentally conscious thing to do, but could also be a great marketing tool for the cities, she said.

“I think that people will find Cleveland Heights and South Euclid more attractive for our parks and green space, not for more of what every other over-developed suburb has,” Rainsong said.

“We need something special that makes us stand apart and stand out.”

Mentch organized the meeting under the auspices of the nonprofit Severance Neighborhood Organization. Visit heightssno.org for information.

City Planning Director Richard Wong attended the meeting, but said he was told not to make a statement about the property.

“It’s too early for us to be talking — we should be listening at this point,” he said when prompted for a public comment during the meeting.

A Facebook page titled “Help Save 144 acres of green space in South Euclid-Cleveland Heights” has almost 800 fans.

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